by the riverside

wow. it has been amazing! let me try to run through each day so i don't leave out anything big.

friday

our busiest day yet: we started at carmel middle school where they have an intense ecological program. they study local animals and habitats and do field work on their school grounds. they have a pond to take water samples from, an organic garden to learn about food and how it gets from dirt to their mouths, an outdoor kitchen complete with a solar heated pizza oven, a native bee garden, and a green house. it was a program unlike any i have seen. the teachers use enivornmental skills to reinforce what they teach in the classrooms, and the kids get comfortable with nature and learn to respect it and treat our resources well. it was really cool. as a side note, in their animal classroom were tons of stuffed animals, including a buck head on the wall. i did not freak out. for those of you that know me well, this is a big step. step 1.

next we went to the stanford new student welcome party for this area. it was fun to meet some new kids and give them my experienced (one year) advice. after that we went to some biological preserve where a guy talked to us about california grasses and different types of oak trees. it was interesting, but by that point we were beginning to get tired and ready to sit still.

after that we stopped by mike's store to grab some refreshments and wait till we could go to the next activity. then we went to heller's organic vineyard. we learned about the processes of making wine completely organicly. no pesticides + no fertilizer = pretty cool stuff. we went wine tasting and tried 5 differnt red wines. the first four were disgusting, and the fifth, a port, was worse. i guess i don't have to worry about becoming an alcoholic. randomly hidden in the thick mist of the barrel room was another buck head. i have no idea why. our tour guides just said nobody ever bothered to take it down. step 2.

we returned to mike's store for dinner and more alcohol. dinner was great and i had a nice conversation with grant, the local wanderer. he has had a very intersting life. he told me all sorts of stories about his travels. he was also full of deep advice. his favorite was a native american saying, "when you listen, you will learn. when you learn, you will know. when you know, you will walk many trails." very nice.

and of course, in the little southern shack that was the cachagua store/bar/restaurant there was a buck head on the wall, complete with a wreath around it's neck. again, i (barely) kept my cool and nobody noticed a thing. step 3. i'm quite proud of myself on this front, but i'm a little nervous because we will be returning to mike's store tomorrow night and the last night for the presentations of our research projects. i love mike - he's very cool, but his store makes me nervous.

today i was very out of my comfort zone. i was in new places doing new things that i wasn't entirely sure about. it was awkward and lonely, especially when everyone else was drunk. then grant came along though. he sang me spanish songs - one about granada - and played the castinets. i look forward to seeing him tomorrow.

saturday

today we went to big creek south of big sur. we stopped at this earthy mountain shop and cafe with an incredible view. we ate lunch by a bridge with an amazing scene of mountains and bay. and all of this was nothing compared to big creek. see the pics on facebook to get some idea of what i mean. it was so beautiful. it's berekely's biological preserve, so no one can access it without permission. other than the friendly director, mark, we were the only ones in the entire park. we set up camp and had a nice dinner of burritos around the campfire.

sunday

we hiked the interpretive loop trail. we went up over one of the ridges of the canyon, hiked around and came back down. our journey took us through lush underbrush, over crystal clear rivers, and on top of golden mountains. it was so beautiful! we ended our hike with a swim in one of the pools along the river. it was freezing! colder than lake tahoe. but still very fun. i didn't bring my swimsuit on the hike, so i was in my underwear. no worries though - the boys had decided to be macho and climb up the steep face of a mountain, then continue with joel on what stuart called "the march of death." we didn't see them again until after dinner, so it was just stuart, big joel, and the ladies in the swimming hole. ally went with the guys, but avoided the march of death and came back in time for dinner. mike let me help him cook - quite fun!

monday

i helped cook breakfast with christine. everyone loved my quesadillas. we drove to the top of a ridge on the canyon and hiked down to a pristine waterfall. it was so beautiful! we swam in the pool halfway down the falls. it was like a fairytale scene. freezing but amazing.

mike let me and chris make dinner since he had to do monday night dinner at the store. i made a delicious homemade pasta sauce with lots of fresh yellow and red tomatoes, purple basil, a bay leaf (which i took out before serving, jen), garlic, onion, and a pinch of something green that smelled like it belonged in pasta sauce. everyone loved it and gobbled it down before everyone was served. i also found a brick of medium tillamok cheese in the fridge and grated it for my pasta. i like mike's gourmet meals, but it was kind of nice to eat normal food for once. apparently everyone else agreed, and i realized what a thankless job cooking is. let me say right now: thank you to everyone who has ever cooked for me: mom, dad, jen, em, kat, grandma and grandpa, aunt sharon and uncle thom, katie, and just about everyone else i know. thank you.

tuesday

we did a solo hike. we hiked as a group over the ridge right by camp to the river on the other side. we sat by the river alone and pondered being in nature for a few hours. it was very nice. then we met up and soaked in a natural hot spring nearby. it smelled like sulphur, but it was still really neat. to think of all the cool things we can do in nature! i am very thankful.

wednesday (today, or possibly yesterday by the time i finish this post)

we packed up and drove out today. thanks to my insistance (and stuart's awesomeness) we stopped at mcway falls! i had never been before, so it was really awesome. we walked the flat, quarter-mile trail through mcway canyon out to mcway cove. there you could see mcway rocks, a set of rocks out in the bay, and mcway falls, the main attraction. according to kevin, it is argurably the most beautiful spot along the california coast. i have to agree. because we can't access the beach itself, it has remained as beautiful and natural as it always was. the water is green like the caribbean and the beach is sandy, not rocky. the waterfall flows to one side over the edge of the cliff that is laced with rich green plants. beyond it is a little rocky cover where waves crash through a hold in the rocks. it's so pretty! good job cristopher macway jr! i can't believe my blood is the same!



well that is all i can say of my adventures for now. i'm exhausted and very happy to be back in a bed with a pillow. it feels wonderful to be clean and have clean laundry. and i cannot believe i don't have poison oak. there was more in big creek than all i have seen in my life combined! the reserve is really neat because they don't do anything to it; they just let nature do it's own thing. what a nice thought.

waves crash down

it's late so i don't have much time to write before my eyes close. today was another fun day. some pics are up on facebook - i'll put the rest on later.

we explored the aquarium front and back and learned a lot. they just got a great white shark in their outer bay exhibit. they will release it when it gets too big for captivity. right now it's just a baby - less than a year old and only about 4 feet long. we watched them feed the bat rays and turtles that had been removed to avoid shark issues. the turtles are vegetarians - they eat kale and bell peppers! we also saw how the tanks are constructed and lighted to create a sense of endless sea. kind of interesting. we also saw the filter system and the jelly hatchery. they raise all of their own jellies from fertilization to maturity.

after the tour we were given a few hours to just explore on our own. it was really nice - i don't think i've ever seen the entire aquarium at one time. there was a lot about sea otters - those seem to be the most popular to guests. i was even brave enough to touch some of the creatures in the touch pool. i spoke with our tour guide and he's going to set up a shadow day for me to see some of the research going on at the aquarium. hopefully that will all work out. it sounds great.

tonight we talked with a woman about the effects of social network on today's world. it was interesting, although the coversation did not take the direction i had hoped. we talked a lot about journalism and whether it is still useful now. we pretty much decided that we have all become our own journalists through the unlimited amounts of news and social networking website. it's amazing to see things changing so quickly. there is still a need for journalists, they just haven't figured out exactly how to work with today's new technologies.

after dinner and that discussion we walked down to hopkins and hung out on the beach. we had intended to go black light mini golfing, but the course was closed when we got there. (it said it was open till 10, but i guess then felt like turning in early.) the beach was still fun. i enjoyed scrambling over the rocks in the dark and listening to the waves crash. we could also see the outline of the aquarium. it was neat.

well i really need to get some sleep. tomorrow we are doing a bunch of random things including visiting the local new student welcome party and touring an organic winery. should be another interesting day! goonight :)

let's see how far we've come

i am exhausted! most of this blog entry will probably be missspelled and out of order, but hopefully you can make some sense of it.

today was so much fun. we began with another breakfast from mike. he made me possibly the most delicious egg scramble i've ever had. he mixes strange things but they turn out great. it contained mushrooms, tomatoes, chard, whole garlic, and asiago cheese. yum! we then met with a biologist about turtle conservation. he told us all about his efforts to conserve a beach in costa rica that is the last leatherback turtle breeding ground in the pacific. it's rediculous the environmental impact humans are having on other species!

about 11:30 we set out for our hike. i have no clue why we decided to hike in the sun during the hottest part of the day, but with three coats of sunscreen i managed to come out only a little pink. we ate lunch across the road from our trailhead on a gorgeous cliff overlooking the bay. then we started our journy up the "elevator" trail. it's called that for a reason! the beginning wasn't bad with some creek hopping and breaks among the redwoods. before long we started climbing the golden grassy hills. fortunatly the piles of poison oak decided to stay back with the shade. the lizards kept us company though. we hiked up and up and up. every time we got to the top of a huge hill there was a bigger one waiting for us. it was very tiring, but in the end totally worth it. standing on top of that mountain we could see a long stretch of ocean to our left and the salinas valley to our right. after a nice long break for water and snacks we ran back down the mountain. i have never run down a mountain before, at least not one that big. it was really fun. jen's ankles would have been miserable, and even mine needed a break toward the end. i was able to keep up with stuart for a while though. and i was actually the first girl down :) it was a beautiful and fun run/fall.

after rest and a shower i rejoined the group for a delicious dinner from mike. he was light on the vegetarian food, but there was still plenty. he and kyle made a savory mushroom sauce with cream and white wine. we poured it over red rice and seeds. mike also made an interesting salad with tomatoes, basil, olive oil, croutons, and watermellon. it was a strange mix of flavors, but good (as always). of course we were all pretty starving. he started us off with my favorite - french bread and gooey brie. yum!

finally we curled up on the couches for a discussion with another stanford bio professor about conservation. he specializes in evolution and ecology - my thing! i brought up the question of why humans are so interested in environementalism. i'm trying to figure out a way it can become more mainstream, so i played devil's advocate and asked why it was so important. sometimes it seems like we are "fighting nature" and it would be more natural to just let things happen. my classmate had some interesting suggestions, but they still didn't resolve the issue of what is "natural". finally the professor suggested an answer that i loved - it actually is in our evolutionary interest. even if humans don't care about preserving nature for it's own sake or because it's beautiful, we still need to care for it. it still comes down to the idea that species do what they need to to survive. for example, if the oceans die, where will we get oxygen? we don't want to have to work or pay to produce it, so it is in our best interest to let it be produced naturally and therefore keep the oceans alive. that answer makes sense to me on even the most basic level. it's very self-centered, but nature often is.

after that i managed to stay up and chat for a little while, but now i can barely keep my eyes open. i hear the sea lions barking. how are they awake to bark at midnight and then again to wake me up at 7am? pictures from the hike are on facebook :) enjoy!

i've always liked steinbeck and those old men whistling

wow. monterey is incredible! i mean the literal meaning of the word: unable to conceive or believe! i'm having so much fun! today was only our first day, but already it feels like so much has happened. this morning we met stuart, our professor; joel, our ethicist; and mike our chef. his food in amazing! stuart is very cool - he's laid back and interesting. while this class is called "natural history, marine biology, and research" the title is a "hoax" according to him. the research part and marine biology is really up to us, and the natural history is basically everything we observe around here. his goal for us is to try/learn something new. we have a research project due at the end of our two weeks, but it can be anything. anything we discover we can present in any way we want. he just wants to make sure we enjoy our time here and get something out of it. for their projects, one of our leaders told a story he'd written about his experiences here; the other did intrepretive yoga about the nature of monterey bay. this is so cool!

i don't know what i'm going to do yet, but i have some ideas. i'd really like to study some ecology, especially with the resources that are here. thursday we are getting a behind the scenes tour of the aquarium. there i will get to meet some neat aqaurists, and stuart said he could arrange for me to study with them if i want to. as part of this program we get free access to the aquarium any time we want! amazing!

tomorrow we will hike up the "elevator" a steep trail that trapses through every type of habitat from the coast up into the mountains. it should be fascinating and fun. i think that's kind of the theme for this seminar.

today after breakfast we toured the hopkins marine station. it has some beautiful views. i don't think i would get much studying done in the library overlooking the shore... then we ate lunch at our little cafe. it reminded me of lynn's paradise cafe in louisville. not quirky, but the food was similiar. next we had some free time to rest or explore. i wandered around cannary row. it was fun to look at the bay. while there i found a dip n dots shop! i didn't think they actually had stores, but there is one less than 10 minutes from my appartment!

my appartment is wonderful. it's a cute blue victorian house that has been renovated into four separate appartments. i lucked into the group of three and ended up with my own room! i love it! it's nice to have some privacy - even more than i got at home!

after the break we met with stuart to talk about our research projects, and he explained the details of doing anything we choose. mike fixed a delicious dinner. i got caught up talking to him about vegetarianism and food in general. it was a fun conversation, and i was glad to get on his good side (very important from what i have heard). earlier, during the break, i my roommates mentioned that we were going to here a guy talk about "play" so they were trying to figure out exactly what that was. it reminded me of a national geographic article bruce from the bee-sex seminar gave me when i was writing my pwr paper on comparing human and non-human animal behavior. it was fascinating. i tried to look up the article to show them, but i couldn't find a full version on line. i met our guest at dinner, only to discover that HE WROTE THAT ARTICLE! stanford is amazing. turns out he's a good friend of stuart's and he came to talk to us about the science of play. he gave a little talk after dinner and we discussed. it was fascinating. exactly the kind of thing i want to study. turned out to be a pretty amazing night.

after this incredible day, i must get some sleep to prepare for another one tomorrow. it feels like i have been here doing fun stuff and getting to know these people much more than a day. i'm glad i still have two and a half weeks of this to enjoy!

i'll be updated pictures pretty frequently on my facebook album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2087172&l=cf6c8&id=220245